BENDIGO TO HEATHCOTE

BENDIGO TO HEATHCOTE (via O'Keefe Rail Trail) = 56km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 2983km

QUEEN MEADOW CARAVAN PARK = $20 unpowered ($25 powered)

 

It was a very hot day yesterday in Bendigo and I think it did hit the 40 degree mark!  At night it took until 6am in the morning to hit 24 degrees - so most of the night was in the 30's.  But we both slept well ... maybe we got use to the bed!

Despite being 24 degrees at 6am it soon became warm again, it was cloudy and absolutely no wind so it felt very muggy.  We said our good byes to Leanne and Russell ... somehow I got the feeling they wanted Kouta to stay and I think if Kouta could talk he would say that he was in 2 minds as to whether to stay with Leanne and Russell or come with us!

We had decided, after Leannes' friends knowledge about the railtrail to Axedale and insisting that it has been repaired after storm damage etc., that we would have a go at riding it.  So we rode back along the bike track that we came on until we saw the O'Keefe Rail Trail turnoff and from there you cross over the main highway that goes through Bendigo and you are at the start of the trail ...

No sooner had you begun on the trail that you come to a short, narrow and not very high tunnel that goes under the existing railway line ...





Now I wouldn't say I am an overly tall person, if anything of average height, but as I rode through this tunnell I did hunch over for fear that I might scrape the top of my helmet!
This railtrail is predominantly lilydale topping with the odd sections with a more chunky gravel/stones.  It crosses a few roads which can be busy early in the morning so you have to wait for slightly long periods at some of the roads.  We did get lost a bit and ended up outside some Bendigo defense regiment so there is a part on the trails where all of a sudden it becomes a very wide track ... if you are on this then you have missed the railtrail turnoff (which is not signposted at that point) but we could see the path so we rode up the road a bit and rejoined it.
The trail is good until you get to the Pony club and from there it was a bit tough with the loaded bikes - definitely doable (if there is such a word!) but you definitely have to concentrate and be prepared for running over some big stones!

If you weren't loaded this is definitely a good trail and ridable - the bridges are all new and where there has been previous storm damage is fixed or if it isn't the ruts created by the storm water on the trail have been ridden over by so many bikes now they are more rounded and are easy to ride through or over.

At the end of this trail they have extended it to go into the township itself - not sure if there was an 'over doing' of the trail at this point as for some strange reason there is this switchback  which doesn't need to be there - but it is a well compacted trail here into the township - the only let down is the public toilets at the park the trail goes to.  These toilets are probably the worst we have encountered on this trip - not only dirty but also very dark when you closed the door - I didn't close the door as I didn't like the darkness of it all! (I couldn't care less if anyone saw me!)

From Axedale we jumped on to the McIvor Highway which was busy but had a wide (and good) shoulder for us - in hindsight it probably wasn't a good idea to have a break in Axedale as when you start again you go immediately down to the river and then have a steep climb back out and unfortunately the legs hadn't warmed up and the climb itself was an absolute shock to the legs as they weren't warmed up - despite the very hot temperatures.
Riding along I was sweating like a little piggy!  It was about 30 degrees and now the wind was gently blowing from the north and west a bit (yeah a cross tail wind) and I have to admit and I thought I would never say this but the wind wasn't blowing hard enough!  A stronger wind would be more cooling.  Poor little Kouta he was hot as well and on this highway there were a few down hills for me to go fast so that it provides a wind to cool him down!
Happy to get to Heathcote just on lunch time, the park is large  and the unpowered section is massive - has a few big trees of which we are camped under one.  At this point it is still cloudy and only a breeze every now and then so we are still very hot.  I think this was the hottest I felt on the bike so far.
Not sure if there is much storm activity about like they all predicted, it is trying to rain but to no avail.  It is slowly cooling but not quick enough - tonight it will get down to 16 degrees which is okay and tomorrow it is still warm at 27 forecasted.  We will make Seymour tomorrow and go via Puckapunyal which is the Army base.

DUNOLLY TO BENDIGO

DUNOLLY TO BENDIGO = 70km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 2927km

THE ROBBOS' CARAVAN PARK = free!

 

This is only a day late when it comes to posting on the blog ... it was a very warm day yesterday and it is going to be even warmer today!

Neil decided to wake me up very early yesterday morning - 5.12am to be exact so in turn I tapped on Kouta to wake him up and he did his usual and completely ignored me, it wasn't until we bot started to roll up the sleeping bags that he decided to stop playing 'possum' and got up.  It was just beginning to get light at that time in the morning but enough light for us to pack up.

We left the campground at 7am .... our earliest start yet.  Knowing that the day is going to get up to 35 degrees our main concern was whether there was going to be a wind with that - Elders said no which meant that it would get to its' 35 very quickly. 

It was wonderful riding along the roads at that time of the morning ... not even the locals were out and about!  The road is very quiet and we continued on the road that we took yesterday but took the Bendigo turnoff and headed toward Laanecoorie Reservoir which had some lovely campspots and the best was probably at Ankers which is a popular boat launching spot and most probably not suited to bush camp there on the weekend!



from here we went up a few kms and crossed over the Loddon river and into the very small and practically non existent town of Laanecoorie ...

Just after Laanecoorie we joined the main road to Bendigo that goes through Lockwood and Kangaroo Flat.  We noticed a definite increase in traffic.  The road has a small shoulder but the traffic was courteous to us.  The road also flattens out a fit until Lockwood from there you cross over the Calder highway and start climbing for about 5km (an easy climb) at 50km you have a down hill in Kangaroo Flat ... where I might add there is an Aldi - the first since we left so we bought a few supplies and picked up the bike path that runs through Bendigo township.  We have never been on this path before and it is great as it runs parallel with the main road through Bendigo.  The only down fall is that you have to cross the roads rather than go under but that is no problem.

At one point they send you on the road but we just went onto the highway for a few kms and then rejoined the trail at the huge fountain.  Going through the parkland there is great as it is very shady and at the time we went there weren't alot of people around.

Basically the path follows the storm water drain so if you loose the path just look for the storm water outlet!

We got to Leannes at 1pm and boy was it hot then - so happy to get into air conditioning!

Kouta just loves it here!

ST ARNAUD TO DUNOLLY

ST ARNAUD TO DUNOLLY = 60km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL =  2857km

DUNOLLY CARAVAN PARK =  $22 unpowered

 

Yesterday afternoon it rained a little bit, not alot but enough to wet the road but at least the temperature wasn't hot and I think Kouta felt very comfortable there with the cooler temperature.  During the night there was a few thunder and lightening which made Kouta go into his usual panic attacks.  Neil dealt with the first one but he regails this morning that he kept drifting in and out of sleep and wasn't quite sure what Kouta was up to ... he does remember that at one point Kouta was sitting on top of the computers!  He also wasn't sure what time this attack was ... meanwhile I slept through the whole thing and only woke up every now and then hearing that Neil is dealing with it.  The second panic attack of his was around 5.30am and I woke and Kouta must have seen me wake and immediately came up to me panting away so he laid down next to me and I just patted him and laid my arm on him and unfortunately I fell asleep so again he had to deal with his own panic attack, but I did wake at 6am and feeling Kouta more relaxed and asleep so I thought OK I will just lay here waiting to get up ... I fell asleep again and woke again when Neil got up at  6.22am so we were a little late this morning.

We did manage to get away by 8am at that point it was very cloudy and threatening to rain but luckily for us it didn't rain just blow a gale!  Again it was a headwind, a south easterly and the road was also going in that direction.

The ride was generally through grazing land, heaps of trees alongside the road but all tall with foliage at the top and not at road level so we were always exposed to the wind.  Basically the road is up and down for the first 20km to Emu and then levels out a bit to Bealiba and then climbs for about 13km to the top and then a very gentle down into Dunolly of which we had to pedal the whole way down as the headwind stopped you from free wheeling.

Neil found the day a little tough with the strong headwinds as you really felt the wind as you we going both up and down the hills today.

The road is spectacular - hardly any traffic until we joined the from Moliagul.  The climb from Bealiba is a good one (despite the headwind) as it follows the train line and is nice and gradual ... any other day without he wind would have been great ... here is a photo of us taking a break at the top -

I actually thought there would be more goldfield scrub land on the roadside, like around Bendigo, today and was surpised as to how much grazing land there was.  Only saw sheep grazing, but the land looks so dry, maybe it is the type of grass!

Dunolly  is the same ole same ole we think this is our 4th time here, the campground is full of prospectors and we assume grain workers as well as the grain silos are just across the road and you can hear the trucks come and go.  Didn't have one grain truck pass us today as the road taken didn't have any grain fields except for one canola field that I saw.

Tomorrow we are back where we started - Bendigo ... looking forward to 'camp Bendigo'!

 



DONALD TO ST ARNAUD

DONALD TO ST ARNAUD = 47km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 2797km

ST ARNAUD CARAVAN PARK = $22 powered

 

I am relieved to be out of that caravan park in Donald - somehow I think it was too much to stay there for the 3 nights and if it wasn't for the heat we would have left on Saturday and come here to lovely St Arnaud.  I tell you that caravan park is up for sale and I wouldn't pay any amount of $ for it despite the huge land involved - there is a lot of cleaning up and clearing out of things that are worn out and dated in that park including the owners.  How do they expect to sell the park when they haven't maintained the park or even bothered to make it presentable to prospective buyers?

Anyway glad the hot weather is over for a few days.  We left Donald around 8am with a short day to St Arnaud on the back roads - it is a pity that we couldn't continue further today as it is a coolish day but we couldn't find any where to stay a little further on.

We took the Sunraysia highway for a few kms and turned left onto Devon Park Rd and stayed on that for 12km until we came to Swanwater Rd which is a dirt road.  As we got to this road we could see a grain truck coming along it and towards us so we pulled over at the intersection and waited for it to pass ... we couldn't exactly ride along this road with this truck barrelling along .... look at the dust we would have encountered as it passed us ...



Crikey we would have come out of it covered in dirt!  This was a tough dirt road to ride as it had alot of soft sections to it and the hard areas kept changing and you had to steer the bike towards the next section without going into soft patches ... of course Kouta helped out with the steering by keeping a look out and moving so that we actually end up in the soft patches!
We only had to go along this road for 4km and then turned left onto Swanwater North road and was on this until we met the Wycheproof-St Arnaud road and then right onto that to St Arnaud.  The ride was predominantly flat and the hill didn't occur until just before St Arnaud.  It is gradual and easy to ride as this road wasn't busy at all and the hill is about 4km long and once at the top you go a short down into town.  We didn't see alot of town and will ride through it tomorrow but it looks like the mainstreet is full of old buildings and it looks busy. 
We did howerver find a 'Jones' Street and this is the first for the trip (have yet to spot a 'Kouta' or 'O'Brien' street.

The caravan park is on the lookout hill and is a munter of a sooty grunter of a climb to get to it!  But it is nice and basic.  A few here - probably working but one or 2 are tourists like us.  It is cool right now around mid 20's and there was a drop of rain but the wind is so light - in fact for most of the ride you hardly noticed the wind ... although coming from the south east it is very light (compared to South Australia!).  Since it is cool this means Kouta can rest and sleep more (the heat gets to him!) and when I came back from my shower I find Neil on the computer and Kouta sleeping - obviously he was just too tired to get his other leg out of the basket ... LOL

So tomorrow is a longer day to Dunolly we have been there lots of times and the park is okay - a bit run down but the unpowered section is very shady with willows (hopefully they are still there) and is on a lovely small lake with ducks to torment Kouta!

WARRACKNABEAL TO DONALD

WARRACKNABEAL TO DONAL = 61km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 2750km

DONALD CARAVAN PARK = $20 powered ($15 unpowered)

 

Yesterday I think we were glad to leave Warracknabeal caravan park ... we stayed there last year and it was a really nice and well looked after park but this time the manager from last year has retired and apparently the Council has taken over the running of the park and it has gone to the dogs so to speak!

We get there and set up and go through our usual ritual of having a cuppa and something to eat and then I go off a have my shower and all that was fine until Neil comes back from his shower and says the mens is not  open and the womens toilets has been turned into a 'unisex' toilet!  maybe I should have payed attention to all the signs on the walls and doors ... I thought that really strange and what is worse is Neil spoke to one of the permanents and it has been like that for 3 months ... it has taken the council 3 months to fix the mens toilets!  Most of the women in the park are paying for the use of the ensuites so basically I was the only woman using the unisex toilets.  Now that was the first thing wrong with the campground the other was a noisy bunch of weed sprayers ... did I just hear everyone say "o-oh"" yes well you will be pleased to know that I didn't say a word ... that's not to say that I was thinking about saying something!!!  There were 6 males all come back from a days work and they

have just been paid as they are loaded up with tinnies and away they drink, for most of the night they were okay and not so rowdy and we all thought they would quieten down by 9pm as they are going to  work tomorrow .... at midnight they were still going and they had got out their guitar and were singing along ... by then I had drifted in and out of sleep and it wasn't until Neil got up to go to the toilet which frightened the heck out of Kouta who in turn lept out of his basket and landed square on me, staggering along wondering what they heck he has just done and realising that he is in the tent and it is only Neil getting out of the tent and not someone trying to get in! that I woke up fully and could hear the rowdy men ... by 1 o'clock I was drifting in and out of sleep and thinking that maybe  I should politely go over and threaten to throw their keys in the Yarriambiack creek ... alas we heard raised voices and one guy was a bit to drunk and beginning to argue and fight ... so I thought it might not be a great idea to go over and ask them to be quiet!

The funny thing about these sorts of situations is that everyone is affected by them but no one wants to go over and say anything.  But anyway the rest of the men around this guy that was yelling and arguing with them decide that enough is enough and they quietened him down and from there I think they all went to bed.

I woke in the morning thinking should I go over and wreak revenge on them?  No it wasn't worth it, but what got us was why were they up so late when they had to work the next day ... well our question was answered when they weren't up with the birds and the bees like us ... it was their day off!  as one left them before us on his motorbike.

Anyway glad to get out of there.  So we left pretty early as it was going to be a hot day and we had around 60km on flat road to get to Donald.  We found a quiet road and on most maps we saw that it was sealed all the way.  We took the road that goes to Stawell and we turned off onto Sheep Hills road about 14km from Warracknabeal.  This road goes right across and east to Donald but we had an idea that not all of it was sealed and one truckie collecting his crop said becareful of the unsealed road ahead and another mechanic fixing a harvester also said the same. 

Along this road are fields of crops and we did see one truck collecting canola from a storage tank

We did come across the unsealed road just after the CFS building at Boolite - at this point we were umming and ahhhing as to whether or not to back track 1km and go down the Runpunyup road but the trouble with that is that we didn't have food with us to stay there as the local store has probably closed down (it was on its' last legs when we past through last year!).  So we perservered, you had to think alot on this road as there was alot of soft spots with huge chunks of gravel and then there was smooth parts.  This was unsealed for 6.5km and for the most of it it was okay to ride (bumpy for Kouta) but in the last part there is a dog leg and the road is slanted either side and you have to ride the dead center or top of the mound which was near impossible for me as Kouta kept moving at the back and putting us in the soft patches!  Alas it took us longer than what we anticipated to get to Donald

Riding along the road is pretty flat and broken up a bit but not too bad considering it is a 'c' road.  They have begun to harvest along this road now and we had to get off for a few grain trucks ... of which there were quite a few driven by females.  We did stop for a quick break at a field of chickpeas

We got into Donald at around 12.30 and the park is on the very edge of town.  It is very run down and not exactly in the greatest condition.  It is big and is up for sale ... somehow unless the 2 owners pull their fingers out of the butts this place is not going to sell!  It is cheap to stay at and the only bonus is that it is quiet and next to a lake so we have a view ...

We staying here for 3 nights as the weekend is going to be very hot.  At least there is a fridge in the bbq section so we can store cold drinks.  Yesterday we moved our tent 3 times as we were unsure as to the line of the setting sun in regard to the shade given by the trees - we think we have settled in a spot that gives us shade at the most important times - between 5-7pm.

 

LAKE HINDMARSH TO WARRACKNABEAL

LAKE HINDMARSH TO WARRACKNABEAL = 53km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL =  2689km

WARRACKNABEAL CARAVAN PARK = $20 powered ($15 unpowered)

 

Can you believe this right after I had posted last nights blog the caretaker for 4 Mile Beach turned up to collect his $5 ... so we didn't get away with free camping after all ... personally I think it is too much considering the facilities are shite, and most definitely not cleaned and not to mention not working (remember the showers robbed me of my 20c!)

Anyway it was lovely having brekky this morning looking out onto the lake - sure beats staying in a caravan park! 

Riding today was predominantly eastwards with crosswind for the most part except when we had to go south it was a headwind. We were in the Hindmarsh shire for the first 15km and then you noticed a real difference in the road when you cross over into the Yarriambiack shire.  The Hindmarsh shire kept this quiet little road as a one lane road except at the top of a crest and on corners and with a reasonable surface, once in the Yarriambiack shire they made it into a 2 lane road with a crap surface.  We stopped for a cuppa at the road junction between Jeparit-Warracknabeal road and Rainbow-Warracknabeal roads and at this point they called it Cry More on the map ... LOL great name.  From here you join the busy road - well busy at the moment as everyone is cutting but the trucks that passed us were very good!

It was a pleasant riding along with loads of grain fields and some fields with nothing in them!  The southerly wind kept the temperature down to about the mid 20's.  Tomorrow the warmer weather begins with the wind swinging to a east north easterly (headwind for us) and then a northerly so with that comes the hotter weather.  We have found a quiet road that will take us to Donald - originally we thought we would have to go on the Borung highway.  We will probably stay in Donald over the weekend as the temperatures are to rise to 36 on Saturday and 37 on Sunday and I think Kouta may find those days a little tough to handle on the bike ... no matter how early we get up in the morning to ride!

Warracknabeal is a nice town, we came here last year to stay over night.  The campground is on the creek and is a council one, but apparently there is no caretaker so one may come around tonight if not there is an honesty box.  We have a powered campsite for $20 but Neil said if no caretaker comes we will pay $15 the unpowered rate ... his reasoning is demonstrated in the following photos ...

The top photo with the bus and its' numerous annexes and it even has a fenced area at the side and front of the bus (facing the creek) pays $20 powered a night with all its fridges, freezers, airconditioning and or heaters, tvs, lights etc versus us (bottom photo) who pays $20 powered for a night for the computer and for a light that is used for about 1 hour at night.  Very few parks will have a slightly less rate for a powered tent site than a powered van site ... we need to carry a little electric jug, fan, heater and toaster with us ... believe me I have been looking for those!

 

KANIVA TO LAKE HINDMARSH



KANIVA TO LAKE HINDMARSH = 81km
CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 2636km
4 MILE BEACH CAMPGROUND = free (caretaker hasn't come yet!) otherwise it is $5 unpowered at off peak or $10 powered OR at Peak = $9 unpowered / $15 powered

WOO HOO WE HAD A TAILWIND (jumping for joy at the moment!).  I have to admit that I did wake this morning not only to the smell of smoke but also to no wind and I remember waking up during the night smelling smoke and there was a strong wind blowing so in the morning when there was no wind about I thought ... yup the south westerly at 30km per hour happened while we were sleeping ... typical!
Alas late afternoon yesterday the clouds really thickened and greyed and at one point the clouds looked like something out of Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth - they were dark and puffy!  I tried to take a photo to reflect it but it didn't quite come out as I expected ...

with this came thunder and lightening but not much rain.  It wasn't alot of lightening but a few did end up starting fires.  One occured while we were skyping Sharon at around 7-8pm and we said to her that we can see smoke but it is not close by and I do remember just before 7pm hearing sirens so we assumed it was a fire.  So as the sun was setting we thought nothing of the fire anymore but I did think wow what an orangey sunset (not even considering that the fire could be causing this orangey glow!) and it wasn't until around 9pm when we got out of the tent and we could see an orange glow in the sky and FLAMES! crikey it looked closer than what the smoke we had seen previously! but there was no wind at that point and I think it was far away it just looked close because we could see the flames!  I took a photo but it didn't come out great but you get the gist of it ...

We woke this morning to the smell of smoke and we had some shirts drying over night and they had a slight charred wood smell to them!  We heard on the radio that in this area (West Wimmera) had 6 fires all started by lightening but there was one major one south of here near Casterton that was bigger although it is under control!

We left this morning around 8.15am and what do you know the wind also started at that point!  From Kaniva we had worked out a back road system through Miram and Diapur to Nhill.  This road was mainly heading in a east direction and the wind was blowing from  a south west direction so it was a cross tailwind but enough to help us along.  The road is flattish through to Miram and from here until Diapur it has hills but they are okay to climb and with a sort of tailwind we didn't have to pedal down the hills for once!  After Diapur to Nhill the road flattens a bit with a bump or 2.

At Nhill we stopped for a cuppa and to pick up dinner for tonight.  At this point we had remembered that last time we went from Nhill to Jeparity there was free camping at Lake Hindmarsh but no water - we could only vaguely remember the details so we stocked up on water.

Kouta taking a quick nap while I did the food shopping ...

We left Nhill around 12pm and took the Western Highway for the first few kms and then the Jeparit turnoff.  This road is like this mornings road ... very quiet and lovely to ride along especially now we had turned and was going in a north east direction which meant our south west tailwind was now right behind us and pushing us along ... it felt good to have a strong wind and to pedal with very little effort.

Although it was a southerly wind the temperature was very warm and when we stopped for a quick break I noticed that it was cool but you could still get a heat shimmer when you looked across the grain fields ...









can you see the tree line shimmering?
So we got to Lake Hindmarsh in good time - it is just before Jeparit about 5km.  It has toilets and drinking water (so we didn't need to bring all that water!) but you have to pay - there is an off peak season and a peak season (1 Dec - 30 April) so we are in the off peak season.  We decide not to get powered as it is a dust bowl where the powered sites are and with our mesh tent inside just gets covered with sand when the wind blows!  So we opt for the wide expansive unpowered area.  The showers are 20c and I got robbed I put in my 20c and no hot water came out so I saved my other 20c and had a cold shower.  Neils shower was hot but the 20c only lasts about 3mins.  It is 7.30pm and so far no caretaker is showing up - 2 other campers are here.
We have a lovely spot and a great view of the lake

Not sure where we are going tomorrow - I think Warracknabeal ... Neil keeps changing our destinations and it is driving me nuts ... I like things to be planned.  I suppose it depends on the wind.

BORDERTOWN TO KANIVA

BORDERTOWN TO KANIVA = 52km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 2555km

KANIVA POOLSIDE CARAVAN PARK = $20 powered ($15 unpowered)

 

This post is a day late as I had bad hayfever yesterday and didn't feel like doing the blog ... in fact didn't feel like doing anything!



So today we are taking a well earned break here in Kaniva and despite all my insistance that we were going to continue today (a fifth day of cycling) as it is a very strong northerly to assist us as we were to drop south a bit we haven't gone as Neil convinced me with an alternative route for tomorrow (with a tailwind!) and he threw in a pancake breakfast on our rest day for good measure ... so I took that deal ... he still owes me a day!
Way back in Bordertown after I had written up the blog post we went for a walk down to the Nature reserve they have on the edge of town.  You can't go in it but you can walk or drive around it.  In it they have some Kangaroos of which quite a few are white .... I kid you not ... they are NOT albino just an off shoot in colouring of some Grey Kangaroo they caught on a property between NSW and SA border, here are some snap shots ...

this is one of my favourites ...

the next one is very talented and sent you a message Ray ...

and we think this one had some kind of disease ...

 

It is a very nice park and the town itself is quite well presented.

We left very early the next day hoping to get some km's in before the wind as it was to be a gentle easterly - a headwind ... but unfortunately it got up early with us and was quite a strong wind.

So I  definitely felt it while riding - the legs are tired from the past 7 out of 8 days cycling and all into headwinds.  I think Neils offer is looking good!

At Wolesley we stopped to have a look at the fuel tanks in a field that were built during world war 2 as tanks to store fuel - apparently the were camouflaged ...

Just after Woseley and before Serviceton we crossed the border into Victoria and gained 30mins!

and with this border also comes a distinct change in the condition of the road ... victoria let us down in this picture with 2 little pot holes to welcome us ...







mind you this was the only pot hole along this road.  Once at Serviceton we got a bit lost as we didn't have a map and the road signs only direct you to the highway so Neil asked a local and they drew us a map.  We continued along this one lane road until it came to a dirt road and from there we had to go on the highway for the last 14km

The Dukes highway in Victoria is alot better than South Australia - the shoulders are wider (the width of a small car) and are sealed with one layer and not a mish mash of multiple layers that get shorter and shorter in width each time the reseal the road.  In saying that the last 6km into Kaniva was resealed by a gang of South Australians as the shoulder was exactly like it was in South Australia ... lumpy and bumpy.

Glad to get to Kaniva which is a small and well presented little town.  The caravan park is next to the swimming pool and is a community one.  Not too many people here in fact just us at the moment and more than likely a few will stop later in the day.

The town has these decorative art sheep all up and down the street ... a fun community project ..

it also has a huge windmill just outside the information center

So the rest of the afternoon was spent hiding from the hot sun and suffering from hayfever.

The night wasn't as restful as I would have liked it to be ... still suffering from hayfever throughout the night and early this morning.  I seem to have outsneezed myself at the moment and the hayfever has settled.

This morning Neil made me my pancakes for brekky ...



it looks nice doesn't it?  We had golden syrup, cream and banana on them.  Neil has decided that we will carry golden syrup instead of honey as it is cheaper! 

The hot northerly is blowing around 25km per hour with gusts up to 40km per hour and the tent is sheltered from it a bit but unfortunately it gets late afternoon sun ... the clouds are building at the moment so heres hoping we don't have the sun on the tent later on this evening.

Tomorrow since it is suppose to be strong south wester we are going in a north east direction (so the wind is directly behind us!) to Jeparit - went there last year and unfortunately after that we will have to have the next day as a cross wind!  we can never win with the wind!